Research

The Hub for Equal Representation conducts pioneering research into how gender inequalities take shape across the economy - from pay gaps and negotiation behaviour to the profound impact of parenthood and the hidden time constraints that shape careers.

Our work has generated globally recognised evidence on early-career expectations, the mechanisms behind persistent pay disparities, the scale of parenthood penalties across more than 130 countries, and the ways unequal access to time affects job search and labour-market outcomes. By uncovering these structural and behavioural drivers, the Hub's research provides a clearer understanding of where inequalities arise and offers evidence-based pathways to help close them.

Gender Pay Gaps and Untapped Talent

A clear look at how gender pay gaps waste human potential-and what it takes to unlock it.

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Negotiation, Expectations and the Ask Gap

Why small early-career differences in expectations and negotiation can snowball into lifelong inequality.

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Parenthood, Child Penalties and Family Policy

How becoming a parent reshapes earnings-and the policies that can narrow the child penalty.

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Time, Job Search and Gendered Constraints

Exploring how unequal access to time shapes work, opportunity, and women's career paths.

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Featured publications

Worker Beliefs About Outside Options

Workers often underestimate what they could earn elsewhere, especially in low-wage jobs, because they anchor on their current pay. These mistaken beliefs keep many in roles beneath their potential, leading to avoidable misallocation in the labour market.

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Review of Economic Studies - The Child Penalty Atlas

This paper by Henrik Kleven, Camille Landais & Gabriel Leite-Mariante represents a major methodological and empirical advance, constructing a global atlas of child penalties across 134 countries using pseudo-event studies. It shows that child penalties explain a growing share of gender inequality as economies develop, overtaking education and occupational segregation in high-income countries.

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The Role of the Ask Gap in Gender Pay Inequality

Nina Rousille's research reveals that the gender wage gap on an online hiring platform stems entirely from women's lower initial salary asks, and a simple prompt removing this difference closes the gap.

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A new model of parental time investments: A paradigm shift for addressing gender inequality in the labor market

New research by Pilar Cuevas-Ruiz, Jose Ignacio Gimenez-Nadal, Sveva Manfredi and Almudena Sevilla shows that hidden constraints on parents' time, especially constant on-call care, help explain why mothers' paid work falls behind fathers' long after childbirth.

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